As we had predicted a few months ago, Dick Johnson Racing has doubled in size during the off-season, with the Queensland outfit confirming it will field a four-car assault on the 2012 V8 Supercars Championship. DJR completed a merger with Paul Morris Motorsport to run Steve Owen for the upcoming season.

The merger means that Owen will now drive a Ford Falcon – as opposed to his usual Holden Commodore – for the upcoming championship, but again his #49 entry will enjoy the support of long-time backers V.I.P. Petfoods.

Owen’s Falcon was built by Triple Eight Engineering (before it switched allegiances to Holden) and run by Jonathon Webb for the past two seasons.

Owen – who previously drove for the team in 2008 in the endurance races – is the fourth driver in the team’s line-up, partnering the established DJR pairing of Steven Johnson and last year’s rookie James Moffat. Dean Fiore’s Triple-F Racing operation was brought into the DJR stable in the early part of the off-season.

Fiore and Johnson will run with the team’s traditional Jim Beam livery, while Moffat will change colours to reflect the increased support of his long-time sponsor, Norton.

“It’s an exciting development for us and I really look forward to welcoming Steve back to DJR,” said team boss Dick Johnson.

“The support of such an iconic Queensland company such as V.I.P. Petfoods is essential to a team like ours. They are passionate supporters of Australian motorsport and we look forward to working with them closely throughout the season.”